Portable devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, and tablet computers have become more common among individuals. The portable devices provide a convenient way to access various content, e.g., on Internet, via a wireless network. Typically, to access an access restricted computing environment, e.g., a server, an application executing on a server, or a communication network such as a wireless network, the user may have to input credential information, such as a username, a password, or answers to challenge questions, to gain access to the access restricted computing environment. For example, to gain access to a wireless network on a user device, a user may have to enter a password for authentication by the wireless network. If the user wants to access the same wireless network on another user device, the user may have to input the password again for authentication on the other user device. This can be burdensome for the user.
In another example, a banking website can have multiple authentication levels. For example, if the user is accessing the banking website for first time on a particular user device, in a first level of authentication, the banking website can require the user to provide a first set of credential information for the banking website to trust the user device. Then, upon successfully authentication of the first set of credential information, the banking website can require a second set of credential information, e.g., a username and password, to provide access to the user's bank account. If a user accesses the banking website from another user device, the user may have to input all the credential information again. While secure, inputting multiple sets of credential information every time a user requires access to an application can be burdensome for the user. Also, as the number of access restricted applications increase, the number of sets of credential information can increase, and remembering all the credential information can be an added burden.